I really enjoyed the Hugh Grant /Ben Wishaw 'A very English scandal' from a few years back and expected this to be more of the same.
Despite solid performances from Paul Bettany and Claire Foy though I found this mini series to be lacking in the the same dark humour and likeability. Whereas Hugh Grant and Ben Wishaw worked well off each other and the script crackled with wit and absurdity, here I found it to be a bit dull. Neither character is particularly likeable. I just felt that the horrible nature of both the lead characters meant they deserved each other. There were no redeeming features to either. Both were awful snobs, one with an addiction to alcohol and one addicted to men. Their attitude to the people around them made them as bad as each other. In fact I didnt really care much for either of them and I was grateful to get to the last episode where it finally started to liven up a little. The behaviour of both characters was contemptible but at least there was finally some emotion starting to happen in the script as the viewer was being asked to take sides as the details unravelled in the court room.
Both Bettany and Foy are fine actors but the slow pace of the first two thirds of this made it more of a melodrama. I found it difficult to warm to either of them. Maybe that was the point though, maybe they both ultimately lost.
I'm glad I watched it and it brings to life an incident I had heard of but I found the lack of empathy difficult to swallow. On the whole this story lacked the black humour and energy of the mini series I was expecting it to compare with.
Despite solid performances from Paul Bettany and Claire Foy though I found this mini series to be lacking in the the same dark humour and likeability. Whereas Hugh Grant and Ben Wishaw worked well off each other and the script crackled with wit and absurdity, here I found it to be a bit dull. Neither character is particularly likeable. I just felt that the horrible nature of both the lead characters meant they deserved each other. There were no redeeming features to either. Both were awful snobs, one with an addiction to alcohol and one addicted to men. Their attitude to the people around them made them as bad as each other. In fact I didnt really care much for either of them and I was grateful to get to the last episode where it finally started to liven up a little. The behaviour of both characters was contemptible but at least there was finally some emotion starting to happen in the script as the viewer was being asked to take sides as the details unravelled in the court room.
Both Bettany and Foy are fine actors but the slow pace of the first two thirds of this made it more of a melodrama. I found it difficult to warm to either of them. Maybe that was the point though, maybe they both ultimately lost.
I'm glad I watched it and it brings to life an incident I had heard of but I found the lack of empathy difficult to swallow. On the whole this story lacked the black humour and energy of the mini series I was expecting it to compare with.